Cinematographer:

Editor:

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Production Company:

In May 1990, Michael Crichton’s manuscript for Jurassic Park was set to be published by Alfred A. Knopf Inc. in Oct 1990. It was sent to several Hollywood studios by Creative Artists Agency (CAA). A 25 May 1990 LAT brief stated that, instead of encouraging a bidding war, CAA urged Crichton to consider equal $1.5 million offers from four studios – each with a director attached – and base his decision on which director and studio were best suited to the project, rather than seeking out the highest bidder. It was rumored that the manuscript could have sold for as much as $2 million. The four major offers came from Universal Pictures, with Steven Spielberg attached to direct, and Amblin Entertainment to produce; Columbia/TriStar, with Dick Donner attached to direct, and Guber-Peters Entertainment Company to produce; Warner Bros. with Tim Burton attached to direct, and Joel Silver to produce; and Twentieth Century Fox, with Joe Dante attached to direct, and Sandollar Productions to produce. Negotiations began 21 May 1990, as noted in the 24 May 1990 HR. Universal and Spielberg ultimately won film rights, and in addition to the $1.5 million purchase price, paid Michael Crichton $500,000 to write the script.
Although a 2 Mar 1992 New York brief stated that Malia Scotch Marmo was brought in to rewrite Crichton’s original script, Marmo does not receive onscreen credit, which was shared by Crichton and screenwriter David Koepp.
According to a 12 May 1992 DV brief, actor William Hurt passed on the project. Others under consideration, but not cast, included Tim Robbins and Richard Dreyfuss. Although John ...
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Washington, D.C. premiere: 9 June 1993 Los Angeles and New York openings: 11 June 1993

Production Date:

24 August--30 November 1992

Copyright Claimants:

Universal City Studios, Inc.
Amblin Entertainment, Inc.

Copyright Dates:

10 June 1993
10 June 1993

Copyright Numbers:

PA620023
PA620023

Physical Properties:

Sound

Spectral Recording Dolby® Stereo Digital; DTS in selected theatres

Color

Lenses/Prints

Filmed with Panavision® Cameras & Lenses

Duration(in mins):

127

MPAA Rating:

PG-13

Country:

United States

Language:

English

PCA No:

32451

Passed by NBR:

No

SYNOPSIS

In Montana’s Badlands, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler, his paleobotanist partner, examine velociraptor fossils. They are interrupted by John Hammond, arriving by helicopter. Grant is annoyed by the imposition until he realizes Hammond is one of the donors supporting his project. Hammond promises to fund the dig for another three years in exchange for a favor: he needs them to endorse his latest endeavor, a “biological preserve” on Isla Nublar, an island just west of Costa Rica. Grant and Ellie agree to fly down for the weekend. On the way, they meet Hammond’s other guests: Dr. Ian Malcolm, a mathematician who specializes in chaos theory, and Donald Gennaro, a lawyer who represents Hammond’s investors, and has organized the weekend investigation of Isla Nublar to ensure the viability of the project. Arriving in Isla Nublar, the group is driven to Hammond’s “Jurassic Park” in jeeps. Grant, Ellie, and Ian Malcolm are stunned to see live brachiosauruses roaming the grounds. Grant falls to his knees when he hears that Hammond also has a Tyrannosaurus rex. The scientists wonder how Hammond accomplished such a feat. Hammond leads them to the visitors’ center, where they view an informational film, explaining the scientific technology behind the park: strands of dinosaur DNA have been extracted from Jurassic-era mosquitos fossilized in amber and combined with frog DNA to form complete DNA sequences, allowing geneticists to successfully clone several types of dinosaurs. In a laboratory, the group witnesses the hatching of a velociraptor egg. A scientist named Wu explains that all the dinosaurs are female, to prevent the animals from breeding. Doubtful of this strategy, Ian Malcolm suggests that adaptations might occur to support ...
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In Montana’s Badlands, paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler, his paleobotanist partner, examine velociraptor fossils. They are interrupted by John Hammond, arriving by helicopter. Grant is annoyed by the imposition until he realizes Hammond is one of the donors supporting his project. Hammond promises to fund the dig for another three years in exchange for a favor: he needs them to endorse his latest endeavor, a “biological preserve” on Isla Nublar, an island just west of Costa Rica. Grant and Ellie agree to fly down for the weekend. On the way, they meet Hammond’s other guests: Dr. Ian Malcolm, a mathematician who specializes in chaos theory, and Donald Gennaro, a lawyer who represents Hammond’s investors, and has organized the weekend investigation of Isla Nublar to ensure the viability of the project. Arriving in Isla Nublar, the group is driven to Hammond’s “Jurassic Park” in jeeps. Grant, Ellie, and Ian Malcolm are stunned to see live brachiosauruses roaming the grounds. Grant falls to his knees when he hears that Hammond also has a Tyrannosaurus rex. The scientists wonder how Hammond accomplished such a feat. Hammond leads them to the visitors’ center, where they view an informational film, explaining the scientific technology behind the park: strands of dinosaur DNA have been extracted from Jurassic-era mosquitos fossilized in amber and combined with frog DNA to form complete DNA sequences, allowing geneticists to successfully clone several types of dinosaurs. In a laboratory, the group witnesses the hatching of a velociraptor egg. A scientist named Wu explains that all the dinosaurs are female, to prevent the animals from breeding. Doubtful of this strategy, Ian Malcolm suggests that adaptations might occur to support procreation because “life cannot be contained.” Hammond leads the group to a highly secure building where the velociraptors are kept. Game warden Robert Muldoon jokes that they should all be destroyed, noting they are extremely intelligent, good at jumping, and lethal by the age of eight months. Malcolm believes that Hammond lacks respect for the genetic power he is wielding, Ellie worries that an ecosystem necessary to support dinosaur life cannot be recreated, and Grant fears the mix of humans and dinosaurs is highly unpredictable. Hammond remains optimistic that his guests will change their minds. After lunch, Hammond’s grandchildren, Lex and Tim, arrive, and he sends them on a tour of the park with Grant, Ellie, Malcolm, and Donald Gennaro. The guests are split into two driverless SUVs guided by a metal track. The SUVs move along a path bordered by electric fences. Hammond monitors the tour from a control room in the visitors’ center, where Robert Muldoon warns him that a tropical storm is headed for the island. Hammond is upset when his guests fail to spot any dinosaurs. Finally, Grant sees a triceratops in the distance. He breaks the rules by getting out of the car and is followed by Ellie, Gennaro, Tim, and Lex. They meet Harding, a veterinarian tending to the sick triceratops. Ellie examines the dinosaur’s droppings, hoping to determine what plant life might have made it sick, and decides to stay with Harding while the others rejoin the tour. Back in the control room, disgruntled computer technician Dennis Nedry informs fellow technician, Ray Arnold, and Hammond that the computer system will be “compiling” for the next twenty minutes, and some systems may turn on and off during that time. After secretly shutting down some of the park’s security and electrical systems, Nedry sneaks into cold storage and steals several dinosaur embryos, which he plans to sell to a rival company for $1.5 million. Nedry hides the embryos in a hollowed-out can of shaving cream, and sets out in the rain to deliver them to an awaiting boat. Meanwhile, the electric fences surrounding the perimeter of Jurassic Park are deactivated, and the tour group’s driverless cars come to a halt. Ray Arnold tries to reboot the system, but Nedry has set a secret password, and is nowhere to be found. The Tyrannosaurus breaks through the deactivated fencing and approaches the tour group’s SUVs. Lex inadvertently draws its attention with a flashlight, and the dinosaur overturns the car, trapping Lex and Tim underneath. The Tyrannosaurus eats Donald Gennaro when he tries to flee, and wounds Ian Malcolm. Grant rescues Lex and Tim from the upturned car, narrowly avoiding attack. Hammond sends Robert Muldoon to rescue his grandchildren, and Ellie volunteers to go along. However, they are only able to rescue Malcolm before the Tyrannosaurus chases them out of the park. Elsewhere, Nedry crashes his jeep on the way to the dock and is blinded by a poison-spitting Dilophosaurus. Just before he is mauled to death, he drops the stolen dinosaur embryos on the ground. Grant and the children spend the night in a tree. They are awakened at dawn by a brachiosaurus, munching on the tree branches. On the hike back to the visitors’ center, Grant finds a dinosaur egg and determines that Malcolm was right – the dinosaurs have found a way to procreate. He explains to Tim and Lex that certain breeds of West African frogs are able to change sex in order to breed, and because the dinosaur clones were created using frog DNA, they must have inherited this adaptation. In the control room, Ray Arnold attempts to restore order by shutting all systems down, but circuit breakers are tripped in the process. Hammond, Ellie, Malcolm, and Muldoon take cover in an emergency bunker as Arnold goes to turn on the circuit breakers in a maintenance shed. When Arnold doesn’t return, Ellie and Muldoon set out to complete the job. Wielding a tranquilizer gun, Muldoon tracks a velociraptor outside the maintenance shed as Ellie goes inside. At the same time, Grant, Lex, and Tim scale the deactivated electrical fence. Ellie turns on the circuit breakers and restores power, which causes Tim to be electrocuted; however, Grant revives the boy with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). As Ellie is chased out of the shed by a velociraptor, she sees Ray Arnold’s mangled body. Although she narrowly escapes, Muldoon is killed. Grant and the children make it back to the visitors’ center. He leaves them in the restaurant to go in search of the others, and two velociraptors chase them into the kitchen. Tim and Lex outsmart the velociraptors, and join up with Ellie and Grant as they take refuge in the control room. Lex uses her computer hacking skills to lock the door and restore the phone system. Grant calls Hammond in the emergency bunker and instructs him to call for a rescue helicopter. The velociraptors break through the glass of the control room and chase Grant, Ellie, and the kids into the lobby. Just when the dinosaurs have them cornered, the Tyrannosaurus appears and attacks the velociraptors, allowing the group to flee to an awaiting jeep. A frazzled Grant announces his decision not to endorse the park, and Hammond concurs. They board a helicopter leaving the island, and Hammond is filled with disappointment as he takes a last look at his failed venture.
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